rak sa_ngop Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I need to replace my pre-loaded anti-vrius software. I tried running ESETNOD 32 but this turned out to be free for 1 month only. Maybe I just don't like the idea of paying about 50 USD a year for software that never seems to find any infected files on my computer. Any current recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadingo Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) AVG free is very good and recommended by many sites on the internet. Avast is another good free one that I have also used. edit typo Edited February 29, 2012 by pattayadingo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayman Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I'm a fan of comodo. They have several free solutions for both AV and FW http://www.comodo.com/products/free-products.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rak sa_ngop Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 AVG free is very good and recommended by many sites on the internet. Avast is another good free one that I have also used. I am a bit wary about AVG because about a year ago I had to uninstall it after it kept crashing my pc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrya Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Comodo is by far the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifer Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Testing Panda. S far, is working well, takes up less computer space and is fast. Have tried all the others, but they slow down computer and use a lot of space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jybkk Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Microsoft Security Essentials: free, no registration needed, no expiry, no "upgrade to pro" pop-up, and probably the smallest footprint on your computer. Regularly praised by professionals: http://www.pcworld.com/article/172808/microsoft_security_essentials_never_pay_for_antivirus_again.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryq Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 This can be quite an emotive subject, people can be strongly for or against a particular company based on preconceived ideas or past experience good or bad. I do not believe that there is a fixed "best" free antivirus, as a new version of one is introduced it may leap frog the others. I don't think that you can go wrong with any of the top 5 or so namely (alphabetical order) Avast Free Avira Free AVG Free Comodo Free Microsoft Security Essentials also Panda is building itself a good rep and works differently as is cloud based. Used machine resources are lower and may be more suitable if you have an older slower machine. Try one and see how it suits you, they are all free so nothing lost if you delete and try another. Note.. if deleting antivirus refer to vendors site and/or download their removal tool, also don't run 2 real time antivirus programs at the same time. Personally I would use the free Malwarebytes as a secondary stand alone scanner occasionally. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary A Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I have tried several of the free programs. Avast worked quite well and I never had any virus problems. AVG is the only one that allowed my computer to get infected. After I changed to Windows 7, I installed MSE and turned on the Windows fire wall. I have never looked back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitalbanana Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Microsoft Security Essentials: free, no registration needed, no expiry, no "upgrade to pro" pop-up, and probably the smallest footprint on your computer. Regularly praised by professionals: http://www.pcworld.c...irus_again.html +1 MSE works for me too. Shipped with my new laptop, and works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendejo Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) Comodo is by far the best. Are you using the Comodo anti-virus as well as the firewall? I've been running avast for years, and just started Comodo firewall recently, I'm considering disabling avast and having Comodo anti-virus instead. I also run Windows Defender. Still, I picked up some crud in the past month, It even put itself into my startup programs. I installed Malwarebytes and it found a few things, hope it took care of it all. Disappointed that the other three guardian utilities didn't catch them. There were registry entries and an executable in the Windows system32 dir. A few years back I picked up a sleeper program that one day woke up and tried to install stuff on my computer that would have turned it into a dating website! By the time avast and Defender notified me (they went off at the same time) the crud was actively being downloaded onto my system. I knew I had a backup from a few days before, so I monitored what the invader was doing. I later looked through my old system backups and found that this thing got planted on my machine more than a month previous, buried somewhere under AppData with the name "GoogleUpdate." The only google app I run is googleEarth, so I'm not missing out by keeping anything with name off my system. Edited March 1, 2012 by bendejo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrya Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Comodo is by far the best. Are you using the Comodo anti-virus as well as the firewall? I've been running avast for years, and just started Comodo firewall recently, I'm considering disabling avast and having Comodo anti-virus instead. I also run Windows Defender. Still, I picked up some crud in the past month, It even put itself into my startup programs. I installed Malwarebytes and it found a few things, hope it took care of it all. Disappointed that the other three guardian utilities didn't catch them. There were registry entries and an executable in the Windows system32 dir. A few years back I picked up a sleeper program that one day woke up and tried to install stuff on my computer that would have turned it into a dating website! By the time avast and Defender notified me (they went off at the same time) the crud was actively being downloaded onto my system. I knew I had a backup from a few days before, so I monitored what the invader was doing. I later looked through my old system backups and found that this thing got planted on my machine more than a month previous, buried somewhere under AppData with the name "GoogleUpdate." The only google app I run is googleEarth, so I'm not missing out by keeping anything with name off my system. Yes, I do. I have been using Comodo for 2 years now and never had any issues. I, myself am surprised of this result as i ever got plenty of harmful bits on my PC. The Comodo is the first antivirus, firewall that has convinced me to keep it longer. The only issue was when I stuck to their DNS server that blocked some websites what I had used with satisfaction. It seems to be a bit harsh :-) My experience with sleeper, timer softwares is really bad. They all seem to be proned to malicious activities and open back doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heimdallr Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 None are perfect with today's more advanced malware, but depending on your needs there are a few decent ones, such as F-Secure (free beta) and with some reserves Avast. Found AVG and ESET32 outright bad due to not detecting multiple viruses. I also felt uncomfortable using Norton after their source code was stolen and broadcasted to their fellow hackers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elwood Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Microsoft Security Essentials: free, no registration needed, no expiry, no "upgrade to pro" pop-up, and probably the smallest footprint on your computer. Regularly praised by professionals: http://www.pcworld.c...irus_again.html +1 MSE works for me too. Shipped with my new laptop, and works well. +2 Installed it when installing Win 7 and no problems whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rigsby Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) There's really no need to purchase apps in the security category these days - unless you're in business (and have many PCs to consider), got money to burn or seriously think you need only the very best. I use Comodo (free) as a firewall and Avast (free) as an antivirus. I've never had a problem - and do serious surfing everyday. Take a look here (there are many similar sites) : http://www.techsuppo...us-software.htm Gone are the days when you really need to purchase any software in this category - IMO). Do read the following link here tho'. I personally am completely happy with it - but others have had problems : http://www.thaivisa....-now-available/ Edited March 1, 2012 by Rigsby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsiam Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I would not call $30 a year for avast burning money...thats what 8 cents a day.....cheap if you consider the loss of data or family photos or such and then the time at the puter shop getting reloaded and cost etc. I do not pay yet by the way, but thinking to get it as just had a near scare.....is the paid version good ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengt Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Use NORTON security applications...its the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I use NOD32 on almost everything because it's outstanding detection rate has kept me virus-free for years. On the few machines I use only sparingly I go with either Avast or MSE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary A Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 After AVG allowed my computer to become infected, I bought Norton Internet Security. Norton developed a bad name for being bloated and slowing your computer. Apparently they totally rebuilt their system. I really didn't believe it but took them up on a 90 day trial. I must say that I was impressed and bought a year subscription. I found it to be very light on resources and usually I didn't even know it was there. I never had any problems at all. My subscription ran out when I was installing Windows 7 and that was when I installed MSE. If I were to pay for a program, it would be Norton Internet Security. Many people still think it stinks but I know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadingo Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 On reflection, I would remove AVG from the 2 I mentioned because this computer in the UK had a virus that AVG did not pick up. I've used Comodo myself in Thailand as well as avast and never had a problem with them. In saying that, I've never had a problem with AVG in the last 6 years or so until this time, so nothing is ever perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrilled Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 microsoft security essentials works real good for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbrock Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Comodo is by far the best. Are you using the Comodo anti-virus as well as the firewall? I've been running avast for years, and just started Comodo firewall recently, I'm considering disabling avast and having Comodo anti-virus instead. I also run Windows Defender. Still, I picked up some crud in the past month, It even put itself into my startup programs. I installed Malwarebytes and it found a few things, hope it took care of it all. Disappointed that the other three guardian utilities didn't catch them. There were registry entries and an executable in the Windows system32 dir. A few years back I picked up a sleeper program that one day woke up and tried to install stuff on my computer that would have turned it into a dating website! By the time avast and Defender notified me (they went off at the same time) the crud was actively being downloaded onto my system. I knew I had a backup from a few days before, so I monitored what the invader was doing. I later looked through my old system backups and found that this thing got planted on my machine more than a month previous, buried somewhere under AppData with the name "GoogleUpdate." The only google app I run is googleEarth, so I'm not missing out by keeping anything with name off my system. I got a virus on my last PC - was using Kaspersky but paused protection to load a page that I wanted to see - and had to boot into Safe Mode for Malwarebytes to be able to quarantine it. It was a fairly nasty one which Kaspersky couldn't fix as it kept killing its processes, Malwarebytes couldn't quarantine. Booting into Safe Mode stopped a lot of its activities - still keeping Kaspersky out of the fight - but allowed Malwarebytes to kill it off completely. Nowadays, if anyone has any virus suspicions, I always tell them to boot into Safe Mode first, before doing a Malwarebytes and SpyBot Search & Destroy scan. Not that much extra effort to ensure you kill it off completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmj Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Microsoft Security Essentials: free, no registration needed, no expiry, no "upgrade to pro" pop-up, and probably the smallest footprint on your computer. Regularly praised by professionals: http://www.pcworld.c...irus_again.html +1 MSE works for me too. Shipped with my new laptop, and works well. +2 Installed it when installing Win 7 and no problems whatsoever. +3 MSE for me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJCM Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Microsoft Security Essentials: free, no registration needed, no expiry, no "upgrade to pro" pop-up, and probably the smallest footprint on your computer. Regularly praised by professionals: http://www.pcworld.c...irus_again.html +1, and also regular checks with Hitmanpro as a Second Opinion Scanner http://www.surfright.nl/en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 After AVG allowed my computer to become infected, I bought Norton Internet Security. Norton developed a bad name for being bloated and slowing your computer. Apparently they totally rebuilt their system. I really didn't believe it but took them up on a 90 day trial. I must say that I was impressed and bought a year subscription. I found it to be very light on resources and usually I didn't even know it was there. I never had any problems at all. My subscription ran out when I was installing Windows 7 and that was when I installed MSE. If I were to pay for a program, it would be Norton Internet Security. Many people still think it stinks but I know better. Norton is way better than it used to be, and shares the highest detection rates with Avira, Kaspersky and ESET. I've had to disinfect too many machines "protected" by AVG (Another Virus Gets through) to ever reccomend it. It's kind of like Hotmail. It's a freebie that pops into people's minds easily, but is not for protecting anything important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtm2k Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Kaspersky internet security, nothing just beats this. I run a software company - 3 machines at home , and another couple in the office. I put kaspersky on every single one of em. Its costs about a 1000 baht and its worth every penny. You could get it online , use it free for 30 days and then buy it online as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadingo Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Kaspersky internet security, nothing just beats this. I run a software company - 3 machines at home , and another couple in the office. I put kaspersky on every single one of em. Its costs about a 1000 baht and its worth every penny. You could get it online , use it free for 30 days and then buy it online as well. Free with a Barclays Bank account Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique355 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Why pay for Norton, Kaspersky, MacAffee etc when you can have it for free and certainly as good as the paid for services. From whom? Microsoft Security Essentials Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdecas Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I used AVG for a few years but it was very byte-hungry so I changed to Comodo. Several years later and still using it. Very happy customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotary Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 AVG. I have used it for years and its good and free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now